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Young artists at Touchstone, May 22
Speaking of Bethlehem treasures– Touchstone
Gadfly “attended” this event last year for the first time — very cool!
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“An Imagined America”
April 9 and 10
selections from Kathy Lauer-Williams, “Curtain Rises: Touchstone reimagines ‘America’.” Bethlehem Press, April 2, 2021.
Touchstone Theatre of Bethlehem is introducing an experimental performance that combines a drag show and art installation and will be presented in person, but socially-distanced.
“An Imagined America” will be presented between 5 and 9:30 p.m. April 9 and 1 and 9:30 p.m. April 10, Fine Art Galleries, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, Allentown Arts Walk, 21 N. Seventh St., Allentown.
The performance is created by Adam Ercolani of Bethlehem. Ercolani is an apprentice at Touchstone Theatre and a 2021 candidate for a master’s degree in Moravian College’s MFA program. The play was written as part of Ercolani’s thesis.
The performance takes place over 45 minutes with just five guests allowed in the gallery at a time.
According to Ercolani, the show is “bringing history to life through a re-imagination of what America is, was, and can or may be.”
The show features performances by two regionally-known drag queens, Majestee Crowne Le’Vixenn of Reading and Rogue-Star Givenchy of Allentown.
“From the get-go, I knew I wanted this project to focus on the medium of drag performance since it provides a unique way to recontextualize the historical moments we’re looking at,” Ercolani says.
“Drag performers are notorious for their ability to capture a room and really kill it with what they’re bringing to the table,” says Ercolani.
The show is a performance piece and an art installation that is a study of human bias and behavior, says Ercolani.
“It’s a dissection of American identity: the good, the bad and the ugly,” Ercolani says. “Audiences and actors alike will be left asking themselves what exactly America is and what they want America to be.”
Ercolani envisions “An Imagined America” engaging Lehigh Valley audiences in a new way, and providing them with a new lens with which to view society.
He hopes the piece will help the community “understand the challenges those unlike them face, and perceive ways in which they feed into the system of which they are inherently a part.”
Tickets for “An Imagined America” are limited and there will be staggered entrance times for only five patrons at a time. Attendees are asked to arrive 15 minutes before their slotted entrance time. Masks are required. Part of the performance will take place in the gallery and part of it will take place just outside the gallery. In the event of rain, the full event will take place indoors. Tickets are free with donations accepted.
Tickets: www.touchstone.org, 610-867-1689
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Thank you for your interest in Letters from Far! After selling out last week, we can now accommodate a limited amount of additional guests. Registration ends at noon on 2/10 or when tickets run out; order ASAP to avoid disappointment.
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Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem
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SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS
Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS
Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem
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Premiering via YouTube watch party December 20 @7p
and available through January 2, 2021
TICKETS
Prices
$5/Reduced ticket**
$12/Individual
$35/Household
**Touchstone typically offers a Pay-What-You-Will ticket at the door and instead will offer a reduced $5 ticket this year.
This is a little confusing and different! We know, so much is this year. Basically, choose your adventure. Two people in your household? You could buy two Individual tickets or, if you want to support more, buy a Household ticket. Struggling this year? Get the Reduced ticket. We kindly ask people to refrain from sharing the link with folks who haven’t purchased. The best way to show your appreciation and keep Follies coming another year is by purchasing tickets.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2020
Contact: Lisa Jordan
610-349-8583
lisa@touchstone.org
21st Edition of Christmas City Follies Goes Online
Touchstone Theatre’s quirky holiday classic comes to YouTube
BETHLEHEM, PA – Touchstone Theatre announces Christmas City Follies XXI, the theatre’s annual holiday-themed variety show, to be presented online for 2020. Follies will premiere on YouTube on December 20, 2020 at 7pm with a watch party and then be available to view through January 2, 2021.
A favorite of Lehigh Valley residents past and present, many locals and tourists alike have come to count Christmas City Follies as part of their holiday tradition, coming out to Touchstone’s cozy black box theatre for an evening of original sketches, characters, songs, and more. The show traditionally ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, with subject matter that has included family stories, dancing hippos, snow camels, holiday yoga, and kazoo-playing Christmas trees.
In the midst of an unusual year and an unusual season, Touchstone has elected to forego an in-person performance in favor of shooting this year’s Follies as a movie; the company will continue to create and perform material for its eclectic cast of characters, filmed as scenes on Touchstone’s property and around Bethlehem, using the Christmas City as its backdrop. The show will feature returning Touchstone favorites like the Old Guy, Little Red, the Better Not Shout Network, and the Shopping Cart Ballet, as well as a host of new music, personalities, sketches, and stories.
“Santa brought us all the gift of reinvention this year with our 21st edition of Follies,” says artistic director Jp Jordan. “It’s exhilarating to be able to take on this work from a completely new perspective.”
The Touchstone company will also be performing an in-person “mini Follies” at outdoor holiday events across Bethlehem between Saturday, November 28th and Sunday, December 6th, featuring clownish characters delivering classic Christmas carols to shoppers. Locations include the Historic Bethlehem Museum and Sites new Christmas in the Quarter, the Sun Inn Courtyard’s Wintergarten, and the South Side Arts District’s New St. Christmas Tree.
Christmas City Follies is sponsored by Peoples Security Bank and Trust; the show receives additional support from the County of Northampton. Touchstone’s season is supported locally by season sponsor RCN. WDIY provides media sponsorship, and Working Dog Press provides print sponsorship.
Christmas City Follies XXI premieres with a watch party on December 20, 2020 at 7pm and will remain available online through January 2, 2021. Tickets are: $12 for individuals and $35 for households. Touchstone typically also offers a Pay-What-You-Will at the door ticket and instead will be offering a reduced $5 ticket for those who would benefit from a discounted admission. This year, tickets are a link that audience members will use to view the show online. Tickets go on sale November 20th and may be purchased at 610.867.1689 or online at www.touchstone.org
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Touchstone Theatre ensemble member Mary Wright has been guiding a group of survivors and advocates in creating poetry, artwork, stories, and music.
This event is part of the Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness week. LVAT week is a seven-day awareness campaign. In 2019 the executives of Lehigh and Northampton counties declared the first full week of November as Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Week. The campaign provides an opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery, and encourage government, local authorities, companies, charities, and individuals to do what they can to address the problem.
The Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Collaborative is composed of several social justice organizations dedicated to fighting the fight on the front lines. The founding organizations of the Collaborative include Aspire to Autonomy, Bethlehem Rotary, Bloom Bangor, Crime Victims Council, LVHN Street Medicine, Marsy’s Law, Truth For Women, VAST (The Valley Against Sex Trafficking), and Valley Youth House.
NOT for SALE was originally planned as a live performance at TouchStone Theatre — was moved to digital due to COVID-19.
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It’s back!
“The Hidden Seed” premiered at Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound in 2019.
“We mustn’t abandon the promise of unity. We mustn’t abandon the promise of the hidden seed . . . The hidden seed is planted in every generation because those who want justice keep it alive . . . We did it . . . and now we are here to pass it on.”
Three 18th century female Bethlehem ghosts — a formerly enslaved West African woman, a Native American woman, and one of the original Moravian immigrants from Europe — agree to tell everything, the whole story of the Moravian settlement of Bethlehem not just the happy parts, without lying.
Yes, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.
“They [we in the audience] will only understand if you tell them the whole story, the whole truth.”
Like about Gnadenhutten, the Moravian Massacre.
Do you know Gnadenhutten?
96 Christian Native Americans killed at the Moravian Mission of Gnadenhutten, skulls crushed with mallets to save bullets.
This anguished cry of a distraught Native American teller cracks the smooth surface of pious Moravian history.
So, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.
Did you know there was slavery in Bethlehem?
Our rather matter-of-fact African American teller bluntly pierces the “miracle” of good treatment rationalized by the European with the hypocrisy of “You believed you could own us.”
“The seeds of our failure were sown side-by-side with our dreams.”
So much for Utopia. Maybe best that it be forgotten.
Or is the hidden seed of equality and unity still available to us?
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Touchstone Theatre ensemble member Mary Wright has been guiding a group of survivors and advocates in creating poetry, artwork, stories, and music.
This event is part of the Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Awareness week. LVAT week is a seven-day awareness campaign. In 2019 the executives of Lehigh and Northampton counties declared the first full week of November as Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Week. The campaign provides an opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery, and encourage government, local authorities, companies, charities, and individuals to do what they can to address the problem.
The Lehigh Valley Anti-Trafficking Collaborative is composed of several social justice organizations dedicated to fighting the fight on the front lines. The founding organizations of the Collaborative include Aspire to Autonomy, Bethlehem Rotary, Bloom Bangor, Crime Victims Council, LVHN Street Medicine, Marsy’s Law, Truth For Women, VAST (The Valley Against Sex Trafficking), and Valley Youth House.
NOT for SALE was originally planned as a live performance at TouchStone Theatre — was moved to digital due to COVID-19.
Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS
It’s back!
“The Hidden Seed” premiered at Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound in 2019.
“We mustn’t abandon the promise of unity. We mustn’t abandon the promise of the hidden seed . . . The hidden seed is planted in every generation because those who want justice keep it alive . . . We did it . . . and now we are here to pass it on.”
Three 18th century female Bethlehem ghosts — a formerly enslaved West African woman, a Native American woman, and one of the original Moravian immigrants from Europe — agree to tell everything, the whole story of the Moravian settlement of Bethlehem not just the happy parts, without lying.
Yes, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.
“They [we in the audience] will only understand if you tell them the whole story, the whole truth.”
Like about Gnadenhutten, the Moravian Massacre.
Do you know Gnadenhutten?
96 Christian Native Americans killed at the Moravian Mission of Gnadenhutten, skulls crushed with mallets to save bullets.
This anguished cry of a distraught Native American teller cracks the smooth surface of pious Moravian history.
So, everything . . . the whole story . . . not just the happy parts . . . without lying.
Did you know there was slavery in Bethlehem?
Our rather matter-of-fact African American teller bluntly pierces the “miracle” of good treatment rationalized by the European with the hypocrisy of “You believed you could own us.”
“The seeds of our failure were sown side-by-side with our dreams.”
So much for Utopia. Maybe best that it be forgotten.
Or is the hidden seed of equality and unity still available to us?
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS
Latest in a series of posts on Touchstone Theatre
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS AND ARTS INSTITUTIONS
“Touchstone Theatre is a Bethlehem Treasure”
now online
Friday, October 16, 7PM
An election season retrospective of original political satire. Ensemble Member Christopher Shorr presents a re-imagining of his 2018 musical, now a movie with larger-than-life characters played by action figures voiced by the original Dictators 4 Dummies cast. Plus: a concert of satirical songs from the Touchstone archive, with favorites from Bhudoo and The Pan Show: In Pan We Trust performed live by the Touchstone company. Join us for a comical evening, a musical challenge to complacency . . . and a chilling reminder of the tenuous state of democracy.
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“Touchstone Theatre is a Bethlehem Treasure”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2020
Contact: Lisa Jordan
610-349-8583
lisa@touchstone.org
Touchstone’s Festival UnBound 2020 Final Performances
Series concludes with “Tales of Hope and Resistance” and “Dictators 4 Dummies… and more!”
BETHLEHEM, PA – Touchstone Theatre will wrap up its COVID-friendly, social-distance-safe Festival UnBound 2020 with two artistic offerings— Tales of Hope and Resistance, a collection of stories from around the world, presented in music and shadow puppetry (October 9); and Dictators 4 Dummies… and more!, a retrospective of Touchstone’s musical political satires of years past and a film premiere (October 16).
After last year’s Festival UnBound, a ten-day festival of arts and community dialogue in October 2019, Touchstone decided that for 2020, the second year of the festival would take the form of outdoor events, parties, forums, and performances, available for socially distanced outdoor viewing in Touchstone’s back parking lot and many also via livestream, to accommodate the safety needs of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The festival opened with a block party for the South Side’s Latinx community, followed by a storytelling performance by local medical workers, and a series of events around nature and sustainability in our community.
The final two events of Festival UnBound 2020 feature the artists within the Touchstone company more prominently. Tales of Hope and Resistance, directed by Touchstone artistic director Jp Jordan, shares retellings of classic stories from around the world, centering on themes of overcoming evil and adversity. The evening of October 9th opens with Irish balladeer Seamus Kennedy, a longtime familiar face at Celtic Classic, regaling the audience with songs and tales of Ireland’s storied past; if Tales goes into its rain date performances (October 10th, 11th), local musical treasure and Godfrey Daniels icon Dave Fry will entertain audiences with familiar songs of revolution. The second half of the evening features shadow puppet renditions of traditional stories from Greece, Kenya, Japan, Brazil, and more. Puppets are created in collaboration with Mock Turtle Marionette Theater and performed by Touchstone and Moravian College’s current cohort of MFA in Performance Creation students. Original music backing the stories is created by Jordan and popular local musician Neil Grover.
“Mythology is such a central part of our collective histories,” says Jordan. “At transitional moments in history, like the one we are presumably living through at this very minute, it can serve us well to rediscover what we once knew.”
The final show of the festival, Dictators 4 Dummies… and more!, directed by Touchstone ensemble member Christopher Shorr, takes a look back at the original, political, satirical musicals that Touchstone has created over the last decade, performed live as a cabaret by members of the Touchstone company. The evening concludes with Shorr’s original 2018 musical Dictator 4 Dummies, now reimagined as a feature-length movie with an action figure cast.
“Something that I love about Touchstone is that it steps up during election years and deals directly with the issues of the day,” says Shorr. “For this night of musical satire, we will look at the perils of competition, the buffoonery we often see in Washington (no matter who is in charge), and the danger of complacency. As a society, we need to stay engaged and alert now more than ever. We’re trying to do our part— yes, with musical comedy— to help that effort.”
Funding for Festival UnBound is ongoing, but to date, Festival sponsors and supporters include: Air Products, CADC Bethlehem, Discover Lehigh Valley, FIG Bethlehem, Freestone Productions, Kira Willey Productions LLC, PBS39, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, PNC Bank, The Morning Call, RCN, R.K.Laros Foundation, UGI, WDIY, Webfoot Digital, and Working Dog Press.
Tales of Hope and Resistance performs Friday, October 9 (rain dates October 10 and 11) at 8p; Dictators 4 Dummies… and more! performs Friday, October 16 (rain dates October 17 and 18) at 7p. Ticketing is by table— $40 for a 4-person table, $30 for a 2-person table. Performances take place in the parking lot behind Touchstone Theatre at 321 E. 4th Street; masks and social distancing are required for all events. Access to the livestream for both events can be found on the theatre’s website. More information at touchstone.org
https://www.facebook.com/FestivalUnBound/
https://www.instagram.com/festivalunbound/
https://twitter.com/FestivalUnBound
321 E. 4th. St.
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A continuation of last year’s celebration of the history, struggles, and successes in the Black community of the Lehigh Valley, recognizing exceptional talent, drive, and leadership. In this year of the Black Lives Matter movement, protests, civil discourse and loss of great civil rights icons – a year where the names of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd are raised in voices across every state – we claim space and call for justice, recognizing that our history informs the present.
321 E. 4th St.
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Bethlehem — are you paying attention!! LGBTQIA+ — Is anybody doing the kinds of things Touchstone is!!
321 E. 4th St.
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Touchstone continues its wonderful community building activities!
September 12, 7p
(rain date: September 13, 7p)
Tickets are FREE, donations are welcome. Interested in reserving a table? Call 610-867-1689 or email chris@touchstone.org
Performance takes place OUTSIDE, in Touchstone’s parking lot. Masks and social distancing are required for all attendees.
In the last year, doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals have come to the forefront of national attention for their work on the front lines of COVID-19. Come out and take a listen to what some of our local medical workers have to say about the experience – tales of trauma, triumph, and compassion, from the healers in our community.
With food by Roasted and drinks by Molly’s Grille and Pub – available for cash only purchase all night, so arrive hungry and thirsty!
Latest in a series of posts on Touchstone Theatre
September 4, 7p
(rain dates: September 5 and 6, 7p)
Tickets are FREE, donations are welcome. Interested in reserving a table? Call 610-867-1689
Performance takes place OUTSIDE, in Touchstone’s parking lot. Masks and social distancing are required for all attendees.
Kicking off the season with an end-of-the-summer party for our neighborhood and our neighbors – all are welcome! Join Touchstone for an evening of local food, live music by Héctor Rosado Latin Jazz Experience, and celebration of local Latinx culture and community.
With food by La Lupita Taqueria and drinks by Molly’s Grille and Pub – available for cash only purchase all night, so arrive hungry and thirsty!
321 E. 4th St.
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Festival UnBound, year two, socially distanced
Touchstone opens 2020-21 season with reprise of community festival
BETHLEHEM, PA – Touchstone Theatre will begin its COVID-friendly, social-distance-safe 2020-21 season with a return to Festival UnBound, a celebration of Lehigh Valley arts and community discourse that premiered in October 2019. This year’s festival will feature weekly events running from September 4-October 16, 2020.
The first year of Festival UnBound took place twenty years after the closing of Bethlehem Steel, a massively impactful and traumatic event for the community. In the years since the closing of the Steel, Touchstone began to explore questions of community and identity in the Bethlehem community: Who were we, now that the Steel was gone? What were the challenges ahead, and what were the values that would hold the community together as we faced the task of shaping our future? Out of these questions came Festival UnBound in October 2019, a ten-day festival of arts and community dialogue around concerns of diversity, sustainability, health, youth leadership, and interconnectedness. The festival was an immense success, and many in the community expressed a desire for the festival to continue.
“What emerged from the Festival was a vision of our community as a healthy, just, and loving place, as it had never been before— one full of music and play in the service of compassion and joy,” says Touchstone Ensemble Member Bill George, who coordinated Festival UnBound in 2019. “We knew we couldn’t let go of that vision but had to keep holding it up as a light to lead us forward. And so, the Festival must live.”
In an extraordinary 2020, Touchstone will be manifesting Festival UnBound in a series of outdoor events, parties, forums, and performances. Many will be free to attend, and most will provide a livestream or digital recording to accommodate audience members who are not comfortable attending for concerns of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Planned events include:
Funding for Festival UnBound is ongoing, but to date, Festival sponsors and supporters include: CADC Bethlehem, Discover Lehigh Valley, FIG Bethlehem, Freestone Productions, Kira Willey Productions LLC, PBS 39, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Morning Call, RCN, WDIY, Webfoot Digital, and Working Dog Press.
Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound takes place September 4-October 16, 2020, with performances taking place in the parking lot behind Touchstone Theatre and other locations throughout the city. More information at www.touchstone.org
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“Lehigh Valley be Free,” original song and music video that premiered July 24th as part of Touchstone Theatre’s “Songs of Hope & Resistance” event.
Gadfly’s sobbing with the vision.
DONATE NOW to support the musicians, artists, and producers who made the
Lehigh Valley Song Project possible!
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Latest in a series of posts responding to the George Floyd killing
always support your local arts institutions
In a time of unrest, uncertainty, and difficult changes, join Touchstone for a celebration of community and connectedness with a social-distance safe outdoor party in the Touchstone parking lot.
July 23, 7pm
Latest in a series of posts responding to the George Floyd killing
In a time of unrest, uncertainty, and difficult changes, join Touchstone for a celebration of community and connectedness with a social-distance safe outdoor party in the Touchstone parking lot.
July 23, 7pm
Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem
It would be a very dead place if the arts community wasn’t here.
Pamela Wallace of Crowded Kitchen Players
Followers know that Gadfly has been making a concerted effort to support the residential arts community — home-grown talent!
He’s hoping that local artists in various genres will see Gadfly as a place to publish their work and to discuss their work. Pass the word to others!
Mark your calendars for the first and second week of June for the next Touchstone presentations: June 2, 5, 9, 12.
FRESH VOICES 2020
Always fresh, sometimes provocative, never ordinary – Touchstone’s apprentice showcase returns for 2020! In light of recent events concerning public health and safety, these performances have been developed to take place remotely, and will feature both downloadable and streaming content from Touchstone Theatre apprentices Sean Patrick Cassidy and Adam Ercolani.
June 5 @ 7pm, streaming on YouTube Live
POTHOLE
Let’s go for a drive. The best conversations happen in your car. The best concerts do, too.
DR. SOGOL’S MAGNIFICENT, MALFUNCTIONING, INTERGALACTIC, COSMIC CAR WASH AND STAMPS
A Quality Wash. Everytime. A completely customized and curated, compacted dose of “live” theatre.
June 2, 5, 9, 12, released at www.isonationpresents.com
ISO/NATION PRESENTS
A modern radio play for deep listeners of the Lehigh Valley and Beyond.
Fresh Voices 2020
Viewing/listening is FREE, and donations are gratefully accepted at bit.ly/FreshVoices2020
321 E. 4th St.
Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem
It would be a very dead place if the arts community wasn’t here.
Pamela Wallace of Crowded Kitchen Players
Followers know that Gadfly has been making a concerted effort to support the residential arts community — home-grown talent!
He’s hoping that local artists in various genres will see Gadfly as a place to publish their work and to discuss their work. Pass the word to others!
And he will call attention to local events and productions that showcase local artistic skills. Pass him the word!
Recently he called attention to Touchstone Theatre’s Young Playwrights’ Festival. 10 or so original works by our elementary school students. It was amazing — even more so because of the agility of the braintrust at Touchstone headquarters in moving this in-person experience online because of the coronavirus beast. It was — drum roll again — amazing. There were some 1200 online views of the Festival, and nearly $10,000 was raised. A special thanks to sponsor Peron Development too!
Mark your calendars for the first and second week of June for the next Touchstone presentations.
FRESH VOICES 2020
Always fresh, sometimes provocative, never ordinary – Touchstone’s apprentice showcase returns for 2020! In light of recent events concerning public health and safety, these performances have been developed to take place remotely, and will feature both downloadable and streaming content from Touchstone Theatre apprentices Sean Patrick Cassidy and Adam Ercolani.
June 5 @ 7pm, streaming on YouTube Live
POTHOLE
Let’s go for a drive. The best conversations happen in your car. The best concerts do, too.
DR. SOGOL’S MAGNIFICENT, MALFUNCTIONING, INTERGALACTIC, COSMIC CAR WASH AND STAMPS
A Quality Wash. Everytime. A completely customized and curated, compacted dose of “live” theatre.
June 2, 5, 9, 12, released at www.isonationpresents.com
ISO/NATION PRESENTS
A modern radio play for deep listeners of the Lehigh Valley and Beyond.
Fresh Voices 2020
Viewing/listening is FREE, and donations are gratefully accepted at bit.ly/FreshVoices2020
321 E. 4th St.
Latest in a series of posts on the Arts in Bethlehem
Gadfly supports home-grown talent!
Please donate: the local arts community needs a solid financial base to thrive
Proudly presenting
THE 15th ANNUAL
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS’ FESTIVAL
ONLINE!
WHEN: Saturday, May 9, 2020 @ 7pm
WHERE: Wherever you are!
Link to the livestream will be emailed out and posted on our website and social media by 12 noon on May 9th.
Make it dinner and a show: Since you’ll be watching the festival from home, why not order curbside pickup from your favorite local restaurant? Shop at local greats, like Jenny’s Kuali, Molinari’s, Molly’s Irish Pub, The Mint, Bolete, Asia, Setta Luna, The Bayou, Southside 313, The Wooden Match, and more – they’ve been kind enough to donate to Touchstone and YPF over the years, and treating yourself to dinner is the most delicious way to support your local business community.
And speaking of support: On a normal year, the Festival performance is followed by our annual Gala, which raises money to support Touchstone’s award-winning arts in education programming. In lieu of the Gala, we’re simply accepting donations – we know that money is tight for many of you, and there are many worthy causes (especially now), but any support is greatly appreciated. You can donate directly here. Many thanks to those who have already donated – we’re blown away by your generosity!
Young Playwrights’ Festival is generously sponsored by our naming sponsor
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS’ FESTIVAL ONLINE
May 9, 2020
Please donate!
The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate
Action Plan, and Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council
This essay by Moravian Academy’s Green Team was generated as part of Touchstone Theatre’s Festival UnBound’s Sustainability Forum and is part of an ongoing initiative to stir our community, young and old, black and white, rich and poor, to think creatively about how we can make our home, our community, a better place to live. It is a challenge we can only successfully accomplish together.
Bill George, Touchstone Theatre
Limiting the Use of Plastic in Bethlehem
One issue that is prevalent in our community is single-use plastic pollution and waste, especially surrounding grocery store policies relating to food preservation. Our perspective on the issue is that our community could do a better job of cutting down on plastic use. This would help the environment by limiting the exposure to pollution from the plastic itself and the chemicals used in or on plastic. Is it possible to completely stop using plastic? In today’s world, maybe not, but it is not only possible but plausible to limit the use of plastic and to use more ecologically friendly options whenever possible. Imagine walking into a grocery store and going to the produce section to get some fruit. When you get there, there is plastic everywhere. Plastic bags to hold the fruit, prepackaged vegetables wrapped in plastic, even bundles of bananas held together by and wrapped in plastic. Why is so much plastic packaging necessary in our grocery stores when nature has already provided a natural package? There are such excessive uses of plastic in our community as wrapping bananas together even though they already have peels, unpeeling an orange and packaging it in plastic, or giving out single-use plastic bags in which to carry produce. These can contribute significantly to plastic pollution that can severely harm our environment.
In order to cut down on our community’s plastic use, grocery stores could provide more environmentally friendly options. These options could include having giveaways of free reusable bags for store members, charging extra for using a plastic bag (something that is already done in some places in the U.S.), using paper bags at the checkout instead, having recycling centers in the store for used plastic bags, and giving customers who bring in their own bags or pre-approved containers a small discount from their purchase. U.S. Senator Tom Udall and U.S. Representative Alan Lowenthal are both members of our government that have been pushing for legislation that addresses our country’s plastic pollution problems, specifically in relation to marine, waterway, and landscape pollution. Also, organizations like the Plastic Pollution Coalition seek to end plastic pollution through education of the public and encouragement of people to be more aware of their plastic consumer consumption as well as to encourage eateries worldwide to end their use of single-use plastics. The Bethlehem Environmental Advisory Council also submitted a proposal to the City Council in February of 2019 asking the city of Bethlehem to place a ban on all single-use plastic bags and to enforce a ten-cent fee on paper bags.
One reason plastic pollution has become a big problem is because it poses a chemical danger to our environment. When plastic bags are left undisposed of in waterways like rivers, streams, or the ocean, they can leach toxic chemicals into the water and soil and damage surrounding plants and animals, affecting whole ecosystems and the water we drink. Additionally, in marine environments specifically, the plastic in our water can release odors that mimic those of some species’ food. This draws wildlife towards pollution and can cause entanglement and consumption, killing the animals. The microplastics consumed by organisms at the bottom of the food chain accumulate all the way to the top, resulting in our personal consumption of about 120-140 plastic particles a day.
A resolution to the plastic pollution problem requires action from all levels of our community from personal to corporate. We each must take personal responsibility for our contribution towards plastic use and consumption. By being increasingly aware of what we are purchasing and decreasing our use of single-use plastics by using reusable bags, jars, or containers, we can hope to reduce overall single-use plastic waste. We can also reduce our plastic use by buying from local and small business establishments to avoid large-scale plastic use from the shipping and packaging industries. Individuals can also use reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones.
On a business level, it is necessary to create anti-plastic policies to reinforce the benefits of sustainable action. In grocery stores, deterrents should be implemented against the use of plastic by utilizing a baseline monetary penalty for the use of plastic bags. To reduce plastic use, grocery stores can also invest in bulk food sections where the consumer can bring reusable containers or bags to get what they need. This method of purchase also decreases food waste since consumers only take what they need because the price would be based on weight and not what is cheaper, whether it be more than they need or not. Additionally, we believe that grocery stores should advertise and promote proper recycling and anti-food waste practices to the wider community. For example, stores should encourage the use of plastic bag recycling programs to which most people already have access by providing information about their locations, purposes, and benefits. At restaurants an effort should be made to not offer plastic straws or to, instead, offer a biodegradable or reusable option such as paper or metal straws. Restaurants can also replace styrofoam or plastic take-out containers with biodegradable containers.
Not only are personal responsibility and improved corporate policies necessary to reach a true solution but so is reaching out to our local legislatures and such government officials as Pennsylvania Senators Pat Toomey and Bob Casey, Jr., to implement laws to protect our environment, health, and natural resources. We must appeal to local governmental bodies like the Bethlehem Environmental Advisory Council to promote and to continue to protect the environment with legislation like their single plastic reducing ordinance created by the Waste Reduction Task Force. It all starts with voting for those who endorse environmental policies and limiting our plastic production or use.
Green Team
Moravian Academy
Advisor: Cole Wisdo
This essay is also posted on the Bethlehem Environmental Advisory Council Facebook page March 26.
